It has long been known that application of cold (cryotherapy) or heat to injured or inflamed joints and surrounding tissue has a therapeutic effect. It has also long been recognized that immobilization of the joint and tissue being treated is required to permit proper healing. But it is also desirable that the patient be mobile, if possible, even while undergoing treatment. The messy and cumbersome inconvenience of present cold and heat treatment techniques is often found objectionable by the patient, and frequently results in non-compliance with the prescribed treatment regimen.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a device that is adapted to immobilize a body joint while heat or cold therapy is applied by means of the device, yet presenting minimal restriction on the patient's activity.
It is another object of this invention to provide such a device that is compact, lightweight, comfortable, simple to apply, and inexpensive to manufacture.
It is still another object of this invention to provide such a device that is adjustable for patients of various body size, and is further adaptable for treatment of various injuries to a given limb of a patient.